Air India Pilot Threatened Co-Pilots With Axe, Probe Ordered

New Delhi: Air India has ordered a probe into the complaints that one of its senior pilots threatened to hit his co-pilots with ‘crash axe’ at least on two flights, the sources said.

While ordering probe, India’s national carrier also directed the senior pilot not to perform his duties as an instructor till further orders. His ‘trainership,’ however, was restored last week.

In the first incident, the pilot, who is a trainer, allegedly threatened the use of crash axe in the presence of a safety pilot doing the route check.

According to sources, the trainer pilot who was in the cockpit of Air Indian flight AI 709 from Kolkata to Dimapur on January 18, 2018, allegedly threatened to use the axe against the co-pilot who was doing his route check.

On January 26, 2018, the senior commander allegedly misbehaved again with his co-pilot and doled out the same threat to his trainee pilot during a Mumbai-Kolkata flight, forcing the trainee pilot to file a complaint against him, sources said.

Sources said the probe is still on and the instructor has already submitted his response on the incident.